Thought Leadership

I was born in Ethiopia to an Ethiopian mother and Eritrean father. Growing up in a refugee camp as a child was very difficult. I didn’t really have a childhood. I had to mature at a very early age. When I turned 10 years old, my family and I resettled to Georgia’s Clarkston community. When I first came, it was really hard for me to adjust to society and my new community.

As an immigrant from Colombia who became a naturalized citizen a couple of years ago, I believe that civic engagement is the best way to give back to this country and make the voice of our community heard. This is the reason why I am very passionate in my civic engagement work, specifically voter outreach. As a naturalized citizen, I believe it is my duty and the duty of other naturalized citizens to vote.

This month’s thought leader piece is written by Annika Lowgren. Annika serves as the Executive Office Manager for New American Pathways, where she has managed operations for almost 5 years.

This month’s thought leader piece is written by Luke Anh Nguyen. Anh has worked at the Census Bureau, Atlanta Region, as a Partnership Specialist and Data Dissemination Specialist since 2008. 

Punam Pradhan is a School Liaison at New AP and came to the United States as a refugee in 2014. She is married with 8-year-old twins and her family was resettled by New AP.

This year our AmeriCorps Project Rise cohort took the time to reflect on the legacy of Dr. King and how we amplify his ideals through our service as AmeriCorps members and at New AP.

This month’s thought leader piece is by New AP Board Member, John Pinkard. John joined the New American Pathways’ Board of Directors in 2018.  He has volunteered with the Clarkston community since 2012 through All Saints’ Episcopal Church and currently facilitates a Saturday morning tutoring group open to New American Pathways volunteers and All Saints’ parishioners.  John currently works in the McDonald’s Division at Coca-Cola and is a co-founder of the Curren Foundation which is dedicated to raising awareness for paraneoplastic syndrome.

Refugees are brave. They have to be. They are forced to leave behind everything and everyone they know for an uncertain future. After a perilous journey and an excruciatingly long stay in a refugee camp, even life in the relative safety of the United States requires courage.

We asked some of our middle school students in our Bright Futures Afterschool Program the question: “Why is education important to you?” Below are their responses. We are so proud of our students, they are working hard to acheive great things!

I am an Iraqi-American. Neither identity outweighs the other, but rather, both are infused within me. Depending on the environment and whom I am interacting with at a given moment, the balance can shift a little to the appropriate one.